My Saviour
by Bunnygoesbang
Summary: After losing to Paul in the six-on-six battle at Lake Acuity everyone leaves Ash. Feeling the shock of of separation, Ash feels miserable but can Paul save him? Ash-pov. I don't own the characters


"It's so cold...so dark." I muttered under my breath as I trudged on the forest path in front on me. Everything in front of me was pitch black and there was no signs of human life anywhere. I didn't know where I was going, I just moved. I did not stop, I couldn't. If I did, it felt like an imaginary sword would pierce me from the back and the constant rustling of leaves added to my paranoia. I felt so alone, so scared but no one would save me.

Heh. My life was just so funny.

Just a month ago I was an ignorant little brat who aimed to be a pokemon master with friends by my side. We travelled from town to town, city to city. Battling gym matches and collecting badges, watching Dawn perform in contest, camping out at night and eating Brock's delicious cooking and meeting **Paul.** I thought that my life was perfect and that nothing could go wrong so I plunged myself into danger to save people or pokemon because I knew that my friends would always save me and that they would never leave me. I was too naive.

After I lost to Paul on a full six on six battle, everything changed. Everyone left me. Dawn said that it was so embarrassing to be travelling with a loser like me and left. Brock said that even though he travelled with me through the other regions, travelling with me in Sinnoh would just be a waste of time if I can't even beat Paul and left. It hit me hard when everyone just abandoned me like that but the biggest blow was from none other than Pikachu. Apparently Pikachu said that I was too weak and not worthy to be its trainer and left.

I was shocked. It was the first time I knew that friendships were so fragile. All I remembered after the battle was that I walked around aimlessly, no set route on my mind. I considered going back home but quickly erased that thought. I could still remember my mother's face brimming with happiness when I told her about my most recent win in the Snowpoint City Gym, she held so high expectations of me and I could not bear to see her sadden face if told her my situation. After the separation, everywhere I went seemed so foreign especially with the lack of weight on my shoulders. Sometimes, I would even turn around to ask Brock where we were or even ask Dawn about her next contest only to remember they were not around anymore.

It felt so miserable to be alone and it did not help when I recently saw Paul in a Pokemon center. I tried to hide my face by turning around and pretend that I did not see him, hoping to leave without him noticing. It seemed that life just hated my guts when it made Paul turn his head to notice me just before I could cover my face. He walked up to me with his infamous smirk plastered on to his face and we did the usual routine of exchanging insults at each other but this time instead of an insult, I apologised to him. He did not deserve to waste his time on a pathetic, useless, good-for-nothing person like me. I wasted his precious time by arguing with him about raising pokemon when he could spend that time to train and grow much stronger. He was right, I was wrong. After all, it only resulted in me losing my closest buddy-Pikachu. I bowed to him and left before he could react. At the corner of my eye I could see Paul's shocked face and maybe if I looked closely enough, I could probably find a glimpse of worry in his eyes but I did not dwell on this subject. There was no way he would be worried over a poor excuse for a trainer and much less a rival.

As I continued on walking blindly with my weary body, I tripped on something and fell hard on the ground. This caused a huge wound on my knee and crimson blood started oozing out of it. It was so painful. I sat down on the cold hard ground and hugged my knees in hope in getting some warmth but it was useless. Even though my body was warm, my heart was not. I felt so exhausted. I wanted to give up on living and just lie down here and rot away in this unknown place, no one would know and even if they did, they would not care about a worthless piece of trash like me. At that point of time death seemed to be so tempting. I was about to close my eyes and begin my eternal slumber when I heard it.

"Are you all right?"

To anybody else it might just seem like a normal sentence but to me-a person who gave up all hopes of living it seemed like a ray of hope in the cold and darkness of my heart. It made me feel that someone cared for me. It made me feel loved. I inched closer to the voice, hoping to catch a glimpse of my saviour. Before I managed to get a look, I was wrapped up in a warm embrace. My saviour wrapped his strong and firm arms around me and whispered encouraging words in my ear, telling me that everything was all right. I was not alone. Even though I could not see his face, I recognised his voice. It was him. It was the first time I heard him talk so softly and gently. It was so warm. Tears glistened in my eyes as I placed my hand on top of his and gave a faint smile. For the first time in a long time I felt everything were really going to be all right because I knew, I was not alone.

Paul is with me.


End file.
